Frc weekly report

FRC WEEKLY REPORT

April 30 to May 6 2012

North Waziristan Agency

On April 30, four persons were killed and three others injured when a US drone attacked a house in North Waziristan Agency.

On May 6, eight persons were killed and three others sustained injuries in a US drone attack in the Dre Nashtar area of the remote Shawal valley in North Waziristan.

FRC Analysis:

Two drone attacks by the US during this week on North Waziristan Agency, in which 14 persons were killed, have made it clear that the US authorities are not ready to pay any heed to call from and outside Pakistan as US President Obama has justified not only drone attacks but also civilian killings as an outcome. Now ball is again in the court of Pakistan to evolve a strategy to stop continuous violation of Pakistani space. Situation in the Agency is not improving as with every passing day fear of people about full-fledged military operation is strengthening.

South Waziristan Agency

On April 30, as many as 360 dislocated families of South Waziristan returned home on the last day of repatriation drive.

On May 5, a militant was killed when an explosive device he was fitting to blow up a tube well in the Wocha Khwara area in South Waziristan.

FRC Analysis: Though some displaced people have returned back to their homes, but even then the situation of the Agency would not be called as normal. The incidents of terrorism have continued and people are living under fear.

Khyber Agency Agency

On April 30, a man was killed and 21 others sustained injuries when an explosives-laden car exploded in the Jamrud bazaar in Khyber Agency.

On April 30, 7 members of peace committee were killed in a clash with Lashkar e Islam in Bara.

On May 3, the militants blew up two power pylons in Sarband area on the boundary between the provincial capital and Khyber Agency.

On May 3, the UNICEF estimated out of over a quarter of a million people internally displaced from Khyber Agency since January out of which 50 per cent are children.

FRC Analysis:

Government has failed to provide better equipments and facilities to members of the Peace Lashkars of Zakhakhel, Akakhel and Kukikhel tribes in the Agency, which made the members vulnerable. During this week members of peace lashkars were targeted, which may cause fear among people who want to get rid of militancy. Internally Displace Persons (IDPs) are still facing problems in Jalozai Camp where they arrived after long-standing military operation in Bara and other areas. UNICEF estimated the number of IDPs from Khyber Agency as more than 250,000 out of which children are 50 per cent, it is challenging situation and government is not giving any sign to cop-e with this situation.

Bajaur Agency Agency

On May 1, the security forces during search an operation in different areas of Bajaur Agency arrested 17 suspects and recovered arms and explosives from their possession.

On May 4, at least five persons were killed and three others sustained injuries in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast at Chamar Kand Khar.

On May5, twenty-six people, including two senior paramilitary officials, were killed and 76 others sustained injuries when a young suicide bomber blew himself up near a security checkpoint in Bajaur Agency’s main town, Khar.

On May 6, the death toll in the suicide attack that took place in Bajaur bazaar rose to 29.

FRC Analysis:

Two powerful suicide bomb attacks in Khar, the Agency Headquarters of Bajaur in a two day span have proved all tall claims regarding normalcy as false and it caused not only panic but fear among people regarding the law and order situation in the area. Security forces and Government are not giving any satisfactory statement which can recover shocked people. It can easily be assessed that the Government and security forces have failed to take common people of the area into confidence for eradication of menace of militancy.

Kurram Agency Agency

On May 6, ten militants belonging to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) surrendered to the authorities in the violence-plagued Kurram Agency and renounced militancy.

FRC Analysis: Only a positive development during the current week came from militancy and sectarian insurgency hit Kurram Agency, where ten militants have surrendered but the announcement they made regarding presence of foreign militants in the Agency has caused fear among people and also a challenging situation for security forces who had claimed that they cleared most parts of the Agency from militants.

Orakzai Agency

On May 2, three persons were killed due to shelling of security forces in the troubled area of Orakzai Agency.

FRC Analysis:

Though no terror related incident was reported in the Agency during the week, but even then presence of militants in the Agency is a reality and some concrete efforts are needed to clear the area.

Mohmand Agency

On April 30, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the blasts in which two members of the pro-government peace body were killed and three others were injured in Pandyalai Tehsil in Mohmand Agency.

FRC Analysis:

Peace Committees are playing their role in the Agency for eradication of militancy, but again it is clear that government and security forces are not ready to provide proper equipment, training and other facilities to members of these committees. The killings of peace committee members during the week are indicative of non-seriousness on the part of the government.

Frontier Regions (FRs) and Peshawar

On April 30, police claimed to have arrested two local militants in Swat district.

On May 1, two bombs exploded at a girl’s primary school in Mian Dheri which is located in the premises of the Government Middle School for Girls.

On May 1, a police constable was killed and another injured in a hand grenade attack on a police mobile van near Landay Sarak on Charsadda road, Peshawar.

On May 1, two militants were arrested in Tahirabad area.

On May 1, Pakistan after a long gap summoned a junior US diplomat, political consular Jonathan Pratt, to the Foreign Office 30 and a slap in the face of a parliament resolution that had called for a cessation of such blatant violations of Pakistan’s sovereignty.

On May 2, United States President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed into agreement the US-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement.

On May 2, White House counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan offered a rare public defense of drone strikes and said the attacks were legal and ethical and were directed only at `legitimate military targets`.

On May 2, the police raided a hospital run by a foreign organization in the University Town and arrested an alleged member of a banned militant group.

On May 2, a police officer was killed, while another was injured, after a roadside bomb exploded on Charsadda Road in Peshawar.

On May 2, the Frontier Constabulary (FC) named a parade ground in Malakand after a former district officer of the force who sacrificed his life during a clash with the militants in Hangu.
On May 3, delegates from more than 40 countries joined their hands in Geneva in a two-day conference to find out solution for more than three million Afghan refugees and to support the 5.7 million who returned to Afghanistan.

On May 3, community school teachers in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) once again protested against non-payment of salaries and contractual jobs.

On May 4, Osama bin Laden was deeply worried about "unnecessary" Muslim casualties from al-Qaeda attacks and urged his network to protect civilians, according to letters from his compound published.

On May 4, police arrested seven militants including a commander in separate raids in Swat district.

On May 4, a set of declassified Al Qaeda (AQ) correspondence released by a US think tank on the first anniversary of the killing of global terror icon Osama bin Laden (OBL) by American forces in Abbottabad reveals that the outfit`s chief, disgruntled with his unruly affiliates, wanted to embark on a reform process to win back the sympathies of alienated Muslims.

On May 4, law enforcement agencies arrested a key commander of Khyber Agency-based banned militant outfit in Peshawar cantonment area.

On May 5, a person was injured while a house was badly damaged when unknown persons detonated an explosive packed car near the residence of former district councilor in Mattani area in outskirts of Peshawar.

On May 5, three workers of a private construction company were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen near the police check post in Chund on the Indus Highway.

On May 5, unidentified militants attacked the girls' hostel of a private university in the University Town areas with hand grenades while a roadside bomb went off near Kala Mandai on the GT Road.

On May 5, the militants blew up a government school in Shabqadar Tehsil.

On May 6, police claimed to have arrested two militants, loyal to Maulana Fazlullah, in Shamozai area of Swat.

FRC Analysis:

Terror related incidents in Frontier Regions (FRs) and Peshawar have shown upward trends during the current week and people are feeling completely insecure.

Ishfaqullah Shawl, Editor FATA Research Centre (FRC), Islamabad